VAMO—Vegetal, Animal, Mineral, Other

DOWNLOAD THE VAMO BOOKLET

About

The VAMO canopy brings together material and construction research from ETH Zurich and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to propose a circular vision for architecture. Conceived as an ultra-lightweight and transportable structure that expands the architectural potential of reclaimed resources, the installation encapsulates multiple life spans within a diverse material palette of waste materials from vegetal, animal, and mineral forms. VAMO premiered at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti and organized by La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition opens to the public from May 10 to November 23, 2025.

Construction

Constructed with lumber salvaged from a Swiss demolition site and built by the Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture Lab (ETH Zurich), the upcycled wooden hoops and bench extend the conversation on material reuse beyond the scale of temporary installations toward broader architectural applications. The canopy’s structural support, developed by MIT’s Digital Structures research group, explores new possibilities for these materials through computational form-finding. Inspired by natural forms and efficient structures of history, the design interlaces an anticlastic tensile network of spliced hemp-rope cable net with a tilted compression hoop, spanning 6.5 meters in pure tension and compression.

Materials

Most vegetal, animal, mineral, and other cladding elements are circular material innovations supported by MITdesignX, a program dedicated to design innovation and entrepreneurship at the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD). Emerging biodegradable materials and upcycled resources find new life as architectural finishes: individual panels are made from used coffee grounds, pineapple peels, waste wool combined with beeswax, coconut husks, leather scraps, and biopolymers. The stools under the canopy are made from reused wood and waste glass from Murano, Italy.

VAMO also features work by other initiatives focused on sustainable materials. It partnered with DumoLab Research (DLR) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design to include panels combining wood biomass composites with novel additive manufacturing techniques. It also collaborated with Manteco, a local Italian company that produced panels made of high-end circular recycled wool.

Material Teams:

• COBI: repurposes coarse, unused wool into breathable panels infused with beeswax—giving new purpose to a fiber typically discarded in industrial wool processing.
• Cortado: compresses spent coffee grounds into a leather-like material with a fraction of the carbon footprint of cowhide.
• Hera Materials (formerly Atacama): developed Woodpack, a recyclable alternative to plastic film made from regional biomass and compatible with paper recycling streams.
• Kokus: combines coconut husks and reclaimed wool into acoustic panels without synthetic binders—completely compostable.
• rehub: reprocesses Murano’s non-recyclable glass waste into a terrazzo-like material formed at room temperature; featured in the stool tops (not the canopy).
• Vérabuccia®: creates panels from pineapple peels, preserving the fruit’s natural texture as a surface pattern—avoiding petroleum-based finishes.
• DumoLab Research (DLR), from the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design: uses wood biomass composites and additive manufacturing to create panels that are printable, and designed to break down safely in soil.
• Manteco: produces dense, high-end textile panels from 100% recycled wool, without dyes or added chemicals, using color-sorting techniques.
• ReLea Core, from the Politecnico di Milano — transforms industrial leather dust and collagen into flexible sheets—extending the life of a by-product typically landfilled.

Life Cycle

Assembled in Zurich, Switzerland, from parts created locally in Switzerland as well as in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, VAMO was brought to Venice for the Biennale and is to be relocated to Switzerland where the natural biodegradation will be researched. The visible effects of time serve as an open invitation to rethink permanence in architecture. By embracing disassembly, reuse, and material transformation, VAMO challenges traditional construction practices by envisioning architecture as adaptable, regenerative, biodegradable, and circular.